Some designs of conventional down-the-hole hammers and fluid-operated percussion drill tools comprise an external cylinder or outer wear sleeve, within which is mounted an inner cylinder which in turn engages with a backhead assembly. A sliding reciprocating piston co-operates with the inner cylinder and backhead assembly, which when air pressure is supplied through the backhead assembly, acts with a percussive effect on a drill bit retained within a chuck on the outer wear sleeve.
Typically the inner cylinder is mounted co-axially within the outer wear sleeve. A sliding piston is mounted for reciprocating movement within the inner cylinder and the outer wear sleeve, to strike a hammer bit mounted for sliding movement in a chuck located at the forward end of the outer wear sleeve, in well known manner. A foot valve is positioned above the bit.
Our prior patent application Publication No. WO 2004/013530, discloses a down-the-hole hammer in which the bit has an elongate shank portion which at its upper end has an annular strike face (or anvil) against which the piston impacts to impart a percussive force to the bit. A lower end of the bit shank is formed externally with a plurality of splines which are spaced around the circumference of the bit shank and extend in the axial direction. The splines slideably engage with complementary splines formed on the internal wall of an annular chuck. The chuck is screw-threadably connected to the bottom of the outer wear sleeve. The bit is retained in the hammer assembly by means of a bit retaining ring, which sits above the chuck and cooperates with an annular shoulder on the bit. This prevents the bit from falling out of the assembly in operation.
In operation the bit shank comes under forces due to the percussive action of the hammer, and rotational torque which is provided by the chuck. This imparts significant bending moments on the upper part of the bit shank increasing the risk of breakage of the shank due to cracking. Drill bits are very expensive to produce, and to recover if they are lost down the drilling hole. That this is a significant problem with the drill bits of conventional down-the-hole hammers is evidenced by the fact that there are a number of patents directed to means of retaining a broken-off bit within the bit assembly so as to prevent it falling down the drill hole. Examples of these patents are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,065,827, 4,003,442, WO 96/15349, WO 98/05476, WO 03/062585, WO 03/062586.
However, the inventions disclosed in these patents are directed to dealing with problems which occur after the bit shaft has fractured, and not to preventing the breakage in the first place.
Other disadvantages associated with conventional percussion drill tools, such as down-the-hole hammers, is that the bit has a long shank portion which is expensive to produce. The long shank portion is required in order to provide a splined shank portion of sufficient length to give enough support for transfer of rotational torque, and an area above the splines for retaining the bit. In conventional hammers, when the bit head or cutting face is worn out, the shank can often be in good condition but because it is made integral with the cutting face, it must be discarded. The premature wearing out of the head/cutting face may occur where drilling is carried out in very abrasive rock or material which wears the tungsten carbide inserts in the cutting head. With many conventional hammers, there is a need to provide foot valves in the bit. The foot valve is required as an integral part of the functioning of the hammer i.e. when the piston is in the strike position, the bottom lift chamber is sealed by the bore of the piston and the outside of the footvalve. If this were not the case then the piston would not lift. The footvalve is prone to occasional breakage leading to down-time.